Music education group Bravo Waukegan presents Lake Forest concert – Chicago Tribune

Two local music organizations are celebrating a return to in-person concerts with more than 100 student performers.

Bravo Waukegan, a Lake Forest-based nonprofit organization supporting music education in Waukegan public schools, and the Donna Curry Studio Violin Academy of the North Shore present Sounds: Bravo Bravo Music Festival at 3 p.m. April 24 at the Gorton Community Center in Lake Forest.

The sold-out concert will also be livestreamed via Gorton’s event website at gortoncenter.org and at vimeo.com/event/1911432.

Bravo Waukegan hosts a free summer music camp for students in elementary and middle school. Students take field trips, hear guest speakers and receive private lessons, which improves their musicality and self-confidence, said Karey Walker, Bravo’s executive director.

It’s Bravo Waukegan’s largest expense and this concert will help raise funds to cover those expenses, she said. Additionally, Bravo Waukegan has received instrument donations totaling more than $750,000, she said.

“We also have a mariachi program; they’re going to be performing on the 24th. They’re opening the show,” she said. “A lot of these kids are so excited to be out and performing again. That’s the theme of the show — we’re bringing people back together and enjoying live music as a community.”

There are about 125 students performing. Bravo Waukegan students range in age from fifth through eighth grade while Donna Curry’s students range in age from six to adult.

Bravo Waukegan will feature several orchestral ensembles, a band ensemble, mariachi and a string quartet. Donna Curry’s strings students will be accompanied by piano.

“The range of music is incredible,” Walker said. “From Brahms to the Beatles.”

Concerts like this help expose students to many types of music, she said.

Before the pandemic, Bravo Waukegan annually rented out the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan and hosted more than 1,000 middle school music students for a concert spread over two nights.

“And we’re going to repeat it next year,” she said. “We’re calling this our comeback concert because we wanted to keep it manageable in size and take that big leap next year.”

Walker and Curry both wanted their music students to perform an in-person concert this spring and had the idea to collaborate.

Statistics show a link between music and academic achievement, with students who study music having a higher high school graduation rate and are more likely to attend college or technical school, Walker said.

“Bravo’s mission is to support music education,” she said. “Not to make musicians out of students per se, but to help them improve their academics and improve opportunities for them … whatever it is they want to do. Music has been proven to have that kind of positive effect.”

Sounds: Bravo Bravo Music Festival

When: 3 p.m. April 24

Where: Gorton Community Center, 400 E. Illinois, Lake Forest

Tickets: $10

Information: 847-722-5821; bravowaukegan.org; gortoncenter.org

Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.